Religious truth, in contradistinction to philosophical truth, is not a maxim but a way, not a thesis but a process. That God is merciful is an abstract statement; to penetrate the religious truth that lies beyond it, we must not shrink from opening the Bible to one of its most awful passages, the one where God rejects Saul, His anointed (upon whom, at election. He bestowed a new spirit), because he spared the life of Agag, the conquered king of the Amalekites. Let us not resist the shudder that seizes us. but let us follow where it leads as the soul of the people struggled for an understanding of God. We shall then come to that wondrous passage in the Talmud where, according to an old biblical interpretation, God rejoices in Goliath’s soul and answers the angels who remind Him of David. It is incumbent upon Me to turn them into friends.” Here we see a religious truth.

Martin Buber, “Herut: On Youth and Religion” in On Judaism, pp.162-3

Amalek and the memory of Amalek saturates with its poison large parts of the Jewish mind after October 7 for reasons that make sense. How to remove the sting? In this pivotal address, Buber grasped the power of “working through” and basic difference and the undergirding confluence between religious truth and philosophical-ethical truth. We could add to this political truth. The talmudic passage is from b.Sanhedrin 105a.

Buber tzadak!

Happy Purim!!